January 2, 2014 – The world according to Dan.

‘SCTV’ Reunion: Martin Short, Eugene Levy to Appear on Andrea Martin’s ‘Working the Engels’

TORONTO — Martin Short and Eugene Levy are set to guest star on the Andrea Martin comedy vehicle Working the Engels for NBC and Shaw Media.

Martin, Short and Levy worked together in the Toronto production of Godspell before later joining SCTV as performers and writers.

The Halfire-CORE comedy will see Short play Chuck Pastry, the head of huge corporation Big Pastry, while Levy will perform the role of Arthur Horowitz, a family-oriented, well-connected and much-loved lawyer who is a neighbor of the Engels.

The series, created and written by Katie Ford and Jane Ford, centers on a family who must band together to keep their heads above water when their father and breadwinner passes away, leaving them with a mountain of debt.

The Engels must all go to work running Dad’s storefront law firm, with one minor problem: Daughter Jenna is the only one who is qualified to practice law.

Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall) and Sarah Levy will also guest star on the Canadian comedy, while Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills, 90210) will direct four episodes.

Besides Martin, Working the Engels stars Kacey Rohl, Azura Skye and Benjamin Arthur.

The 12-episode series is currently shooting in Toronto.

‘Fresh Prince’ actor James Avery dies, aged 68

Los Angeles (AFP) – US actor James Avery, most famous as Uncle Phil in hit 1990s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” died on New Year’s Eve aged 68, his publicist said.

With a deep baritone voice, Avery regularly played judges, professors or doctors in TV shows in the 1980s and 90s, as well as extensive voice work, including on animated projects.

His first big-screen role was an uncredited part in 1980s classic “The Blues Brothers,” and he enjoyed a prolific TV and movie career stretching over three decades.

But the role most people will remember him for is as Philip Banks on the 1990s NBC series, who played a role model to the young Will Smith’s character, a fictionalized rapper version of himself.

“I’m deeply saddened to say James Avery has passed away,” his “Fresh Prince” co-star Alfonso Ribeiro tweeted. “He was a second father to me. I will miss him greatly.”

Born James LaRue Avery in Virginia and raised in New Jersey, he had worked until September, shooting the film “Wish I Was Here” directed by Zach Braff, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this month.

Avery died late Tuesday in hospital in Glendale, outside Los Angeles, “due to complications from open heart surgery,” his publicist Cynthia Snyder told AFP in an email.

He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Barbara Avery, his mother Florence Avery, and his stepson Kevin Waters. Plans are being made for a memorial service, the spokeswoman said.